Bitcoin is the first digital currency that was launched on the market. But besides Bitcoin, Ethereum is also popular in the crypto sphere, as it represents one of the most influential blockchains from the entire crypto history. Ethereum was launched in 2015, and since that moment, the native token of the blockchain, Ether (ETH), has remained the second-largest virtual coin by market cap. Ethereum offers something new from Bitcoin, as besides having a native digital currency, it also added other revolutionary Web3 developments, including smart contracts, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized applications (dApps).
Ethereum is and will probably remain the dominant blockchain for developing all these new features, but the platform has its flaws. For example, slow transaction speeds and high network fees are some of the reasons that have hindered Ethereum’s mass adoption. Seeing the weaknesses of Ethereum, various other blockchains have appeared on the market and offered the possibility to replace Ethereum because they brought superior features. Additionally, many more alternatives to Ethereum are present because people are more interested in how to buy crypto currency.
But do these competitors stand a chance against one of the most important players in the crypto space? Let’s discover.
What is an Ethereum killer?
“Ethereum killer” is a term that refers to a blockchain that is competing directly with Ethereum. These platforms have some of the features of Ethereum, but they tend to utilize other different technologies and claim to offer the best solutions to Ethereum’s shortcomings. In most cases, an Ethereum killer has lower gas fees and faster transaction speeds, which are areas in which Ethereum has struggled to find solutions. Each of these Ethereum killers uses smart contract technology, representing coded programs that automate some tasks directly when the conditions are met.
Additionally, Ethereum killers focus on the creation of dApps and encourage Web3 developers to build new ones on their blockchains. Also, besides dApps and DeFi, Ethereum competitors have other projects, including play-to-earn games and NFT markets.
Examples of Ethereum competitors
Ethereum has inspired various developers to build competing smart contract blockchains. Although, over the years, there have been numerous ETH killers, only a few have become market leaders. Some good examples of Ethereum competitors are Cardano, Solana, Avalanche, Polkadot and Algorand. These new projects process more transactions per second in comparison with Ethereum and have lower gas fees. However, when it comes to decentralization, no option beats Ethereum.
The Ethereum killers try to overcome the shortcomings of the second-largest digital coin. For example, Cardano has better sustainability, and its consensus mechanism has been created to be more energy-efficient. Another powerful competitor is Solana, which competes with Ethereum in terms of scalability and speed. Ethereum has struggled with network congestion for a very long time. However, Solana has taken advantage of this drawback and brought to its blockchain much faster transactions at minimal fees.
Ethereum vs competition: Which one will survive?
Although Ethereum killers have increased in recent years, crypto analysts don’t think that Ethereum will die or be replaced anytime soon. Ethereum is the world’s first smart contract blockchain, which is a significant advantage over its competition. Many digital currencies in Web3 are built on Ethereum protocols, and there is a large community of validators and developers on the Ethereum blockchain.
However, although Ethereum is one of the most popular blockchain and digital assets, it poses some significant scalability issues. Ethereum competitors attract developers and users because they promise quicker transaction speeds and cheaper fees. Even though, over the years, Ethereum has tried to solve some of the issues with the shift to a PoS consensus mechanism and other improvements, the blockchain remains more expensive and slower than the other alternatives.
Furthermore, more and more blockchains add features of blockchain interoperability, so it is unclear whether Ethereum will maintain its competitive advantage. The experts from the crypto space perceive interoperability as the future in the Web3 space, which could mean that the Ethereum killers might gain a larger share.
The dominance of Ethereum in the crypto space depends on the future upgrades that will happen.
The scaling solutions of Ethereum’s layer-2
In addition to the post-merge upgrades of Ethereum, there have also appeared some layer-2 blockchains that make it possible to interact faster and cheaper with Ethereum. Unlike the ETH competitors, these layer-2 blockchains are created on Ethereum and focus on making the blockchain more convenient. Positive examples of these types of projects include Arbitrum, Polygon and Optimism. Further upgrades in layer-2 scaling can keep Ethereum competitive, even though some other options might steal some of the market share.
Ethereum 2.0 is a significant upgrade that wants to deliver improvements in security, scalability and sustainability. One of the most effective changes was the shift from a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) model, which makes the platform more secure and effective. Another difference that Ethereum 2.0 brings is sharding, which divides the platform into smaller pieces, thus enabling it to process more transactions. All the features of the Ethereum 2.0 can make Ethereum maintain its value and still be considered a viable solution by crypto enthusiasts.
Wrapping up
We can’t deny that there is a rise in the competition of Ethereum. However, Ethereum still represents the leading smart contract platform and remains one of the most preferred options by crypto enthusiasts. ETH killers might have lower fees and faster transaction speeds, but they still have weaknesses. Furthermore, with all the Ethereum further improvements and post-Merge upgrades, Ethereum can erase some of the value that its competition brings.
Although ETH can lose some of its market share because more competitors enter the market, it will still maintain an essential role in the smart contract space. Additionally, with the improvements in the layer-2 scaling solutions, it is easier for users to interact on the Ethereum platform without needing to pay exorbitant fees.
What’s your opinion on Ethereum killers? Do you think they will surpass Ethereum? Or will Ethereum maintain its position as one of the most essential blockchains and digital currencies?
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